Hummus
'Hummus '''is a Levantine Arab food spread or dip. The four main ingredients are mashed chickpeas, lemon, garlic and tahini, a food made of sesame. The optional ingredients are paprika, olive oil, salt and pepper. Sami Zubaida, "National, Communal and Global Dimensions in Middle Eastern Food Cultures" in Sami Zubaida and Richard Tapper, ''A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East, London and New York, 1994 and 2000, ISBN 1-86064-603-4, p. 35. It is commonly eaten in Middle Eastern culture. Etymology The English word hummus is derived from the Turkish word humus meaning the food dip or spread itself, which is derived from the Arabic word حمّص''ḥummuṣ'' derived from the word ḥimmaṣ''meaning "chickpeas". Maan Z. Madina, ''Arabic-English Dictionary of the Modern Literary Language, 1973, s.v. ح م ص The earliest attestation recorded in the English language for "hummus" was in 1955. Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition) online version, September 2011, Oxford, Oxford University Press Many common English spellings of the word can be inconsistent. Many common spelling for "hummus" are hummus, hommos, houmous, hommus, humos, hoummos, etc. The spelling humus should generally be avoided in the English language because it would be a homonym of the word humus, organic matter found in soil, although this is usually the Turkish spelling while the Oxford English Dictionary states that the word was derived from Turkish. The full name of the spread in the Arabic language is ḥummuṣ bi ṭaḥīna meaning "chickpeas with tahini". History Various cuisine-related sources state that hummus is a very ancient food,mideastfood.about.com, Hummus 101, retrieved 28 February 2008choice.com, More about hummus, "Hummus has existed for thousands of years." retrieved 5 May 2008insidehookah.com Food - Hummus, "...it is evident that it’s been a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean favorite, and sometimes staple, for thousands of years." retrieved 5 May 2008 or link hummus to various historical figures like Saladin.Percival, Jenny, Lebanon to sue Israel for marketing hummus as its own, guardian.co.uk, 7 October 2008, retrieved 9 November 2009 Indeed, its basic ingredients—chickpeas, sesame, lemon, and garlic—have been eaten in the region for millennia.Tannahill p. 25, 61Brothwell & Brothwell passim There is no specific evidence of this ancient history of hummus bi tahini, though.www.straightdope.com, Who invented hummus?, 21 March 2001, "Hummus has been around for too long, in too many forms, and the origin is lost in antiquity... There's no way of knowing where it started...", retrieved 5 May 2008 Even though chickpeas were eaten much in this region, and they were cooked often in stews and other hot dishes,e.g. a "simple dish" of meat, pulses and spices described by Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi in the 13th century, Tannahill p. 174 puréed chickpeas eaten cold with tahini do not appear before the Abbasid period in Egypt and the Levant. The most historical recipes for something similar to (Arabic) hummus bi tahini date back to Egypt of the 13th century. A cold purée of chickpeas with vinegar and pickled lemons with herbs, spices, and oil, but no tahini or garlic, appears in the Kitāb al-Wusla ilā l-habīb fī wasf al-tayyibāt wa-l-tīb;Lilia Zaouali, Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World, University of California Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-520-26174-7, translation of L'Islam a tavola (2004), p. 65 and a purée of chickpeas and tahini called hummus kasa appears in the Kitab Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada: it is based on puréed chickpeas and tahini, and acidulated with vinegar (though not lemon), but it also contains many spices, herbs, and nuts, and no garlic. It is also served by rolling it out and letting it sit overnight,Perry et al., p. 383 which presumably gives it a very different texture from hummus bi tahini. References